Love or Life
by Kelly of the midnight dawn
Summary: There's a war coming between Hell and Earth, between humans, demons, zombies and all other creatures that inhabit this world. At the center of it all two lovers will be forced into the struggle of their lives as friends become foes... Oops ran out of rom
1. Chapter 1: Say Goodbye to Normal

**Ugly Americans: Love or Life**

**Chapter 1: Say Goodbye to "Normal"**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ugly Americans" or its characters, yadda… yadda… yadda no profit… writing this for fun… blah-blah-blah. Alright now that that's out of the way…**

**A/N: Okay, there weren't nearly enough fanfics for "Ugly Americans" so I finally got fed up and wrote one of my own. It may not be the best thing you've ever read, it may not be the longest, heck, I'll probably abandon it if there isn't enough interest in it but what can you do? I had this idea in my head and I finally got it out in words. The first 1300 words were written on an iPad and in bed so they are either the most brilliant or the worst thing I've ever come up with. Honestly that has nothing to do with anything but its late, I want to go to bed and I'm all gittery. My actual laptop has been giving me problems like you wouldn't believe and you can't post to from an iPad so… Okay, author's note over now.**

When Mark Lilly woke up that Monday morning he had no reason to expect that it would be any different from the many other Mondays since he had moved to the city. But it was different. After that day his life and the lives of those closest to him would be forever changed.

He looked to his right and saw Callie sleeping peacefully beside him. She looked so peaceful that Mark hated the thought of moving and risking disturbing her slumber. Callie had had a long night explaining to her father the meaning of being engaged to be engaged and after Aldermach Maggotbone had finally grasped the concept Callie had then had to prevent her father from killing Mark on the spot.

Mark involuntarily cringed at the all too fresh memory. He briefly wondered how he'd managed to fall asleep after that but Aldermach had threatened to kill Mark so many times now that Mark supposed that after the initial burst of adrenaline faded and Callie had calmed her father's lust for violence that Mark knew there was really nothing to fear.

He watched Callie for a long time until with a soft moan her eyelids flickered once and then opened. She smiled at Mark.

He returned the smile "Good morning Beautiful," he greeted her.

Callie nodded curtly as she sat up, the sleepy smile disappearing from her face in an instant. She groaned emphatically at the clock before turning on Mark "Six fifteen?" she exclaimed in what was supposed to have come out sounding like rage.

But Mark knew better; with a mischievous smile he moved closer to her on the bed "How about a quickie before breakfast?" he suggested.

Callie seemed to consider this for a moment or two before nodding, a wicked grin of her own blossoming into existence "You're on!"

One quickie turned into three but by seven the two were showered and dressed. Callie sat at the kitchen table as Mark cooked breakfast and explained to his zombie roommate, Randal why eggs were the perfect after sex food.

Callie knew that Mark would not be mentioning sex as part of his defense of the eggs he was almost inexplicably devoted to, had Randal not brought up the noise that the pair had caused in the shower. Callie grinned to herself, the shower, the location of their third and almost fourth quickie. Mark had laid down the law after he'd nearly dropped her during climax and like that Callie had been cut off for the morning.

There had been a time not so long ago when instead of sitting there while Mark made breakfast, Callie would have been searching her speed dial for a quick and mostly anonymous fuck before work. Her phone had once been full of those numbers; cheating husbands, out of town business men, anyone as long as they weren't looking for anything serious. Callie already had something serious, with Mark.

For a long time she'd thought that she could carry on that way; until she saw what it was doing to Mark. Even before he had become semi involved with his old flame turned she-beast Jackie, she had seen it in his eyes when he'd caught her with that guy in her office. She had promised herself after she Grimes and Randal had rescued Mark from Jackie that she was done sleeping around. She hadn't told Mark her decision, it was force of habit, she supposed, attempting to maintain the power in a relationship where power was completely irrelevant. Mark truly loved her and she truly loved him.

As he set a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her she vowed to finally tell him that she was truly committed to him and him alone, later.

"I was thinking-" Mark started before being interrupted by Randal.

"Oh this can't be good," the zombie announced.

Mark attempted to ignore his roommate "Maybe you," he smiled at Callie "And I-"

"What stupid thing are you gonna ask her now? Randal groaned. "As if getting engaged to be engaged wasn't dumb enough. Hey... Hey what do you call her? Your pre-fiancé?" Randal started laughing hysterically.

Callie rolled her eyes. They hadn't bothered to mention to Randal that in the end it had been she who had asked Mark.

"Your place tonight?" Mark asked as Randal's loud guffawing echoed through the apartment.

"Oh yeah," Callie replied emphatically just before she took another bite of her eggs. Suddenly her fork dropped to the plate as she bolted for the bathroom.

"Callie...?" full of concern Mark rose to follow her only to have the bathroom door slammed in his face. On the other side of the door he could hear the unmistakable sound of retching. "You alright...?" he asked meekly.

"Gave your girlfriend food poisoning," Randal had followed Mark and was standing only a few feet away leaning against the wall "Bad move dude..."

"Hey!" Mark said defensively "There was nothing wrong with those eggs!"

Inside the bathroom Callie had finished puking. She flushed what had formerly been her stomach contents and turned to the sink to wash her mouth out. She could hear Randal goading Mark outside the bathroom. Callie didn't believe for a second that Mark's cooking had made her ill but she saw no harm in letting him believe it. At least she rationalized she'd let him believe it until she could get the doctor to confirm that it was just a stomach bug. Satan only knew what germs lurked in this city.

She emerged from the bathroom a few moments later. She regarded the bickering roommates with a sour look before heading for the door "I'll see you at work," she called over her shoulder to Mark in her usual impassive and mildly irritated tone. Mark was about to reply but she was already gone.

"Man," Randal shrugged "She used the door, she must be pissed."

"Maybe not..." Mark defended with a shrug of his own as he slumped onto the sofa "she really hasn't been using the window so much..."

Randal took a seat beside his human companion "Cheer up, you probably haven't killed her,"

"Always looking on the bright side, aren't you," Mark sighed.

"I try," Randal smirked. After a moment he seemed to take some sort of pity on Mark and asked "So what incredibly stupid thing were you going to ask Callie before your terrible cooking made her blow chunks?"

"I was going to ask her if she wanted to drive upstate with me this weekend to meet my Mom and sister," Mark replied, his tone full of exasperation.

"Sister?" Randal had glommed onto the one word in that sentence that interested him. And the reason that it interested him? It was the one word that suggested the remote possibility that he, Randal, might get laid.

Mark groaned; this was the very reason he had never mentioned his older sister to Randal before. When he had first moved in with Randal the topic of family hadn't really come up and by the time that it had Mark knew enough about Randal to keep that information a secret. He stood from the sofa "Don't even..." he remarked tiredly as he made his way out of the apartment.

"We're gonna finish this discussion later tonight!" Randal called after him.

"No we're not!" Mark called back fervently.

XXX

By the time Mark arrived at the DOI Callie had come and gone. Twayne, looking comically flustered without Callie there to assist him, informed Mark that Callie had scheduled an early appointment to be seen by her doctor and that she would be out the rest of the day; and would Mark be so kind as to help him figure out what was causing that odd sound in the file cabinet?

Mark sighed and begrudgingly opened the bottom drawer of the file cabinet to reveal a jingle bell on a piece of ribbon left over from the Christmas party.

"Oh," said Twayne as he took the jingle bell from Mark "I guess that explains why it was a jingling sound."

Mark grumbled something and headed to meet with his class. He couldn't stop thinking about Callie and wondering if he had indeed made her seriously ill. He decided that if she hadn't returned from the doctor's by the time his class was over that he would give her a call just to make. He felt guilt creeping up inside him and overtaking him as he entered the room, the regular crowd ready and waiting for him. He would soon learn that his guilt was completely unfounded. But for now it was all he could do to remain on topic with the group. He caught his eye wandering to the clock more than once and on three separate occasions he'd thought he'd heard someone outside in the hall and had stopped class to see if indeed it was Callie returning.

XXX

While Mark was busy with his class, Callie was a few blocks away sitting in her doctor's office.

As a child growing up with parents living in the city and below ground in Hell, Callie had had a slew of pediatricians. Her first human doctor, when she had been all of three and a half, she had rewarded for all his patience with her by giving him a face full of red festering boils. An act for which she was rebuked by her mother and praised by her father.

Since that first experience, Callie had come to prefer human doctors. It wasn't simply the convenience (there were very few demon physicians who practiced outside of Hell) but there was something about the way they took her feelings into consideration. Demon doctors only checked to see that everything was functioning, rarely asking the patient's opinion on their own body. Callie just seemed to feel more safe around humans. Her legs dangled off of an exam table that was covered in a white paper sheet. She began kicking them idly as if she were a child again as she lost herself deep in though.

She hadn't always felt this way but the realization that she now did in fact trust the species to which her mother belonged much more so had finally hit her a few days ago, on April first. When Mark had thought she'd been kidnapped he'd completely forgotten about his own safety in his effort to save her. And it wasn't just Mark, humans all she saw humans all around her doing things for one another, in some cases helping complete strangers, when no demon would have thought of doing such a thing for his closest friend.

And it wasn't just humans. Zombies, vampires, werewolves and even koala men all seemed to have a sense of something that Callie couldn't put her finger on but that the demon community itself had never possessed. It amazed and frightened her and had caused her to do a lot of thinking over the past few days.

"Callie…?" the door to the exam room opened slowly and a friendly human woman a few years older than Callie poked her head in.

Doctor Darcy Miller had been Callie's primary care physician for almost two years now. Doctor Darcy was on a first name basis with all of her patience and Callie couldn't help liking the other woman. Darcy never made snap judgments based on Callie's pedigree as a half human half demon. Darcy hadn't immediately written Callie off at first sight of her horns but had actually taken the time to get to know her patient.

Callie smiled at Doctor Darcy "Hello," she greeted.

The doctor pulled up a rolling chair so that she could sit facing Callie "I hear you're not feeling well," she began "You look fine. What happened?"

Callie explained to the doctor everything that had occurred that morning and how she believed that it was probably just some sort of stomach bug.

Doctor Darcy nodded as Callie spoke. When she had finished the doctor shook her head "A stomach bug usually manifests itself in other ways besides just vomiting," she reasoned, speaking slowly as if she were trying to work something out in her own mind "You might be pale, shaky on your feet, having occasional bouts of diarrhea but you don't appear to have any of that."

It was Callie's turn to shake her head "Can't you just give me something for the nausea?" she asked.

"I can write you a prescription yes," Darcy told her, still speaking as if she didn't want to disrupt her own mind's internal conversation "But I'd like to examine you just in case."

After the exam Doctor Darcy drew some blood that she sent to off to the lab to be tested. Callie could have left right then and waited at home for a phone call from the doctor's office later that afternoon but once Darcy had shared her hypothesis of what it might be that had made Callie ill, Callie didn't know what to do with herself. So many thoughts raced through her head. So many memories of late, ondomless nights when she'd been so desperate just to feel her body pressed against Mark's.

She'd been on the pill of course but that damned gender reassignment surgery she'd gone through. She'd been off it during her time as Dick and there was a good chance that she'd gotten ahead of herself in her quest to fulfill that deep need within her that she might not have given the drug enough time to build up in her system once she was fully female again.

Doctor Darcy was able to move some appointments around and sat with Callie outside the lab, waiting for the results. The doctor tried to comfort Callie with all manner of platitudes, none of which seemed to be doing anything.

"Stupid gender reassignment," she muttered to herself. Of course it wasn't the surgery that was what was bothering her, though going through it not just once but twice to get back to her original gender was a risky thing to have done in the first place, but it was herself she was truly upset with. Years and years of being so careful, so many demon partners, so much rough sex, so many barbed penises and so much careful adherence to the birth control schedule.

Then again, she found herself thinking, if she was pregnant, she'd rather be pregnant with Mark's baby than one of those random fucks from her phone or one of those demons who she had so freely given herself too in years past. It was obvious that Mark would make a wonderful father. Callie was almost comfortable with the idea when she remembered about her father.

This was not going to make him happy. Callie having a baby with a human was far from the destiny that her dear daddy had mapped out for her. She'd only really been toying with changing Aldermach's plans before. Dating Mark was just one little way that she could say to her father "You don't control me" but in the end she had thought for a long time that she'd wind up doing as daddy dear wanted. But then she'd fallen in love.

Her being in love was something that she thought that her father was gradually beginning to understand and she'd actually believed that in time perhaps he'd let the issue drop and stop threatening to chop Mark in two, at least she'd been hoping that would be the case by the time the pre-engagement evolved into a wedding. But now, she knew that her father wouldn't be able to get comfortable with the idea of her carrying Mark's baby, not this soon.

"I'm not pregnant, I'm not pregnant," she began to murmur over and over to herself as she waited patiently, eyes never leaving the door behind which her new destiny was being decided. She could just imagine her father finding out about the baby. The first thing he would do before he'd even allow himself to fully process the words would be to cut Mark's head off.

Callie realized she was hyperventilating and made a courageous effort to breathe normally. She was overreacting, she tried to tell herself. Her father wouldn't be that upset. And besides, she probably wasn't pregnant anyway…

Beside her Doctor Darcy squeezed her hand "I've got to go in about fifteen minutes," she told Callie.

Callie nodded; the doctor had really gone above and beyond her responsibilities by arranging to keep Callie company this long. Just another example of the virtues of humanity.

Within five minutes of Doctor Darcy's statement the lab door opened and a young, nervous looking technician hurried out with a slip of paper. He avoided looking at Callie, choosing instead to look at the floor, the ceiling, anywhere else but at the half human, half demon that no doubt embodied many of his nightmares.

"Oh, this city's gonna eat you alive," Callie murmured to herself as the tech scurried back into the lab. She looked up at Darcy who was looking over the results in her hand. The doctor's face remained impassive as if she were assessing any other data that had been placed before her eyes.

Callie couldn't take it and snatched the paper from the doctor. Within a second of scanning the information she felt an entirely different kind of nausea overtake her than had that morning. "This is real," she murmured "This isn't a dream, this is really happening."

Doctor Darcy reached a hand out to her "Come up to my office. We're going to need to talk about a few things."

**A/N: Okay, still jittery but at least I've finished chapter one. Now I know what you're thinking, and you're writing, pregnancy in fanfic isn't exactly an original plotline but you don't quite know where I'm going with it yet now do you? Trust me when I say that if you read and review and I find the strength to continue that you have never read a pregnancy fic like this before and you most certainly haven't read an "Ugly Americans" pregnancy fic because I'm fairly sure there aren't any.**

**So here we are at the end of chapter one. What did you think? Did you like it? Should I continue? Is there even anyone out there reading this?**

**Just for the record, I don't like bringing politics/hot button issues into Fanfiction and I'm fairly sure I didn't but just so you all know, don't go asking me my views on birth control. I simply thought that if Callie had been using a chemical form of contraception that it would have made sense that she would not have been taking it during that brief period she was Dick (and spoke with John Benjamin's voice which is a total mind fuck to anyone who's ever seen "Lucy the Daughter of the Devil") and therefore offered a valid excuse for why conception could have taken place.**

**Thank you for reading and please if you could leave me a review that would be wonderful because they are the fuel that will keep my fingers moving long after my hands have cramped up and my eyes can barely stay open. Also, if no one reviews, how will I be sure anyone's actually read it? I mean there's the hit counter but that only means people have clicked on the story it doesn't actually mean they've read it.**

**Yeah so, wicked long author's note and I'm going to bring it to a close now. Bye bye and good night.**


	2. Chapter 2: Keeping Up Appearances

**Ugly Americans: Love or Life**

**Chapter 2: Keeping Up Appearances**

**A/N: Thank you to the people who have at least clicked on this story and the one person who has added it to their favorites and alerts. I want to state now that I am not a religious person but I don't want to offend anyone who is and I apologize for that in advance. There is nothing religious about the storyline but if I didn't clarify that it could be taken as offensive by some people and that is not my intension.**

Callie waited another two and half hours in Doctor Darcy's office while the doctor saw to other patients. Darcy had said that she had needed to speak with Callie regarding the circumstances of her pregnancy and really, Callie was still too stunned from the news to be able to do anything. She couldn't quite process all the thoughts and feelings spinning around in her head. So she was content to sit silently.

It wasn't as if she was in any particular hurry to return to work. And when she did she knew that she'd be confronted by Mark first thing. He would be concerned about her and she'd feel backed into a corner and most likely blurt out the news on the spot. That would not be the way to handle this. She didn't know exactly what the right way to handle this was but she knew that some sort of subtlety would be required.

The doctor opened the door and slipped inside her office. Callie barely noticed as Darcy took a seat behind her desk. "Callie…" Darcy began and Callie finally looked up at her. As soon as the doctor was sure that she had Callie's attention she continued "First thing's first; do you want this baby?"

Somehow the option of not having the baby hadn't occurred to Callie. It would be so simple just to get rid of it. All her problems would just go away. But then there was Mark, it was his baby too. Even if he never found out that she'd been pregnant, would her human half ever allow herself to look him in the eye again? Slowly Callie nodded "Yes," she told the doctor and with that one little word, she had sealed hers and Mark's fate.

Darcy nodded and withdrew a small package from her desk. She handed it to Callie "Then you'll have to start taking these immediately."

Callie looked at the packet that Darcy had handed her. It appeared to be a pharmaceutical sample pack of pills. She looked up questioningly at the Doctor.

"I'll write you a prescription of course," Darcy continued "But the sooner you start on these the better."

"What are they?" Callie asked as she tore open the packet and dry swallowed one of the lavender pills.

"Mark is human isn't he?" Darcy asked. Callie nodded "You may only be half demon but your body chemistry is still too toxic to support the growth of a healthy part human child in your womb," Darcy explained "These pills will even out your body chemistry to promote normal fetal development during gestation." Darcy began scribbling something on a prescription pad. She looked up at Callie and added "They do have the side affect of suppressing your demonic abilities."

Callie felt a bit uneasy hearing that news. The ability to fly and to start fires with her mind was one she was trying not to use so often these days because she felt it made Mark uncomfortable but it was still one that she depended on in a pinch. There were times when her demonic abilities came in useful and to be without them for a whole nine months was a bit of a daunting prospect.

Darcy handed Callie the prescription "Now I'm going to get in touch with your gynecologist, you'll have to visit her every week to make sure that the pregnancy is proceeding normally."

Callie nodded and stood up. Darcy walked with her out to the receptionist's desk. She smiled at Callie and patted the younger woman on the shoulder "Don't worry, you're not the first to have ever gone through this, you'll be fine."

Callie returned the smile and after going over a few matters with the receptionist, left the office. Now it was time to turn her attention to the matter of how to break this news to Mark. She could hold off but he would eventually notice. Still, she knew she didn't have to tell him right away. She could put it off a few weeks.

She didn't know then that her window of opportunity was going to be slammed shut for her. Already the news of her pregnancy was on its way to her father's ears thanks to the unscrupulous receptionist. Things were about to change forever. Darcy had been right when she'd said that Callie wasn't the first one to go through this. But she was the first half demon to have made the decision to carry the child of a full blood human to term. Many demons took human lovers/sex slaves which was the reason for the invention of the drug for which Darcy had given Callie a prescription. But half demons were encouraged to either eventually conceive with full demons or other half demons. A child whose genetic makeup was only one quarter demon was unheard of and its existence was not only taboo but a threat to the existence of evil itself.

XXX

Aldermach Maggotbone was, in his own twisted way, a loving father. But there were certain things that had to be balanced with love. For a demon especially love could not, ever come before business. He had only just received the call from the receptionist who worked at Doctor Darcy's office. The importance of the message was only just sinking in. He'd been trying to ignore Callie's indiscretions for a long time now. He'd tried to keep his temper in check and not behead the man whom he had referred to as the most unremarkable man who ever lived but whom he thought of as the biggest threat to demonic conquest.

Mark Lilly had already seemed to have nurtured in Callie the humanity that Aldermach had taken great pains to suppress. Now it seemed that this unremarkable man with the aid of Aldermach's own daughter would bring about the era of true piece that the demonic race so feared. He could no longer stand by and allow this to continue. Action had to be taken. It pained him but to ensure the safety of the dark realm over which he presided he would not only have to remove Mark from the picture and the child that his daughter was currently carrying but he would have to kill Callie too. She was just rebellious enough to oppose him after the man she claimed to love was done away with.

Of course he knew he wouldn't be able to kill Callie himself. He'd been faced with a similar dilemma once before and had delegated the responsibility to Twayne, a mistake to be sure but in that case at least, a fortunate mistake. This time no mistakes could be made. There could be no last second reprieve by some soft hearted koala man.

He sighed heavily and once again wished that there was a bar in his office, he could use a stiff drink about now. This was not going to be an enjoyable task. He decided that he'd at least give Callie a warning. It would do little good, even with the head start she would not be able to save Mark and if she was serious about keeping the baby then the medication she was on would prevent her from being able to save herself when the time came but he felt that as her father he owed her this small kindness.

XXX

Mark didn't see Callie until about four that afternoon. He'd just been planning to head out when he noticed her pulling up in the DOI parking lot. He jogged the twenty yards or so that separated them quickly and reached the car just as she was getting out. He immediately wrapped his arms around her.

Callie, taken a bit off guard by the strength of Mark's embrace, quickly and surreptitiously tossed the bag from the pharmacy containing her filled prescription and the remains of the sample packet into the backseat before returning the gesture.

Mark's hand found its way into her hair as he pulled her closer "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice warm and full of genuine concern "Have you been at the doctor's this whole time?"

When he was holding her like this and his love for her was so overwhelmingly obvious that he loved and cared for her, Callie couldn't stand the thought of lying to him. But she couldn't allow him to think that anything was different so she quickly pushed him away, slapping his arm more than playfully "Of course I'm fine," she said sharply, though if Mark hadn't been attempting to nurse his fresh wound, he would have noticed that her gaze didn't quite meet his "Went to the doctor, got some anti nausea meds and took the rest of the day off," she managed a humorless chuckle before indicating the passenger's side to him "Now get in," she commanded.

The ride to Callie's apartment was mostly silent, interrupted only by occasional and insubstantial chatter. The chatter was one sided as Callie was too preoccupied to participate much in conversation. Mark however took her silence to mean that somehow he had done something wrong. So he only tried harder to start a conversation in hopes of wheedling the true cause for her silence out of her.

During one of the extended periods of silence, a small package sitting on the backseat caught Mark's eye. He recognized the name of the pharmacy near Callie's apartment and reached for the bag. He peaked inside at the pill bottle. He could only see part of the name but he didn't recognize it as any brand of anti nausea medication that he was familiar with.

Mark had been pre-med in college and he tended to rely on the knowledge he had accumulated far too heavily considering his pre-med training had been in humans only. His mother had tried very hard to convince him not to move to the city but he'd gone anyway. He was then and remained idealistic, confident that somehow he could make a positive impact on the world.

Mark pulled the bottle of pills from the bag and turned it in his hands. It was a large bottle and he needed both of his hands to hold it. He was just about to read the small print on the back of the bottle when Callie tore it from his hands. She glared at him as she stuffed it back in the bag from the pharmacy and tossed it back into the back seat.

Mark held his hands up in surrender before Callie could say anything "You're right," with Callie he had learned that for certain things, offering a preemptive apology was often preferable to waiting to find out just what it was he'd done wrong "I shouldn't be looking through your personal things… but that is a lot of anti nausea medication… Are you sure you're alright?"

And guilt overwhelmed Callie again. She briefly considered telling him the truth then and there but it wasn't the right time. She had to allay his concern but for the life of her she didn't know how to do that. Instead of answering Mark's question she changed the subject.

"You hungry?" she asked, a little louder than was perhaps normal "How about we stop and get some takeout?"

"Okay…" Mark replied, letting the word hang in the air.

Callie sighed. He was still suspicious but for the moment he was distracted. She pulled the car over at one of their regular go to takeout places and got out of the car, not even looking back to see if Mark was following her.

Mark was following her. He was deep in thought. Callie was acting different than usual but with Callie it was sometimes often hard to determine what normal was. But Mark had thought over the past few months that he'd begun to figure her out. Even her seemingly unpredictable mood swings had a pattern to them and he'd begun to feel like he could predict them. He hoped that this was simply one of those changes in mood but he couldn't be sure. Something about Callie's behavior seemed different.

Mark took a place in line beside Callie at the counter but it wasn't long before something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and caught sight of an obviously already drunk Leonard slumped over one of the establishment's small tables. Mark nudged Callie with his shoulder to get her attention. He indicated Leonard with a discrete nod of his head "I'm gonna go see if he's alright," he told her, grabbing one of her hands and giving it a gentle squeeze before he departed.

"You go do that," Callie replied impassively. She couldn't care less why Leonard seemed drunker than usual. But Mark cared about all his friends and she knew there was nothing she could do to stop him, nor would she care to stop him, from butting in.

Callie was at the front of the line by the time Mark got through exchanging a few muffled words with Leonard. When he returned he shrugged and sighed "He's not making any sense," he told her somewhat remorsefully though Callie had not inquired after the pathetic wizard. "I offered to take him home but he said no."

Callie turned to him "Leave him. There is no way that I'm allowing his drunken ass anywhere near my car."

Mark shrugged. He was well aware that Callie lacked the depth of compassion that he was capable of but sometimes it still stung when he realized that the woman that he loved cared very little about the people around them. She had said that her heart was only big enough for him but he kept hoping that one day she might be able to care just a tiny bit more about their friends.

They ordered and were soon on their way out of the restaurant, Mark carrying the bag of food. As they were getting into Callie's car Mark could see Leonard exiting the restaurant and tottering down the street. He pointed this out to Callie "Maybe we should follow him to make sure he's alright?" he suggested.

"Don't be stupid," Callie responded "He'll be fine. He just needs to sleep it off in a gutter someplace." She turned the key in the ignition and sped off in the opposite direction from that of the aging wizard.

Mark had pushed all thoughts of Callie's odd behavior to the back of his mind in favor of thoughts of Leonard. Certainly Mark had seen Leonard drunk many times before but alcohol was such a part of Leonard's day to day life that he almost never appeared as far gone as Mark had seen him earlier that evening. Mark wondered if there was anything that could have happened to Leonard that day that would cause him to become so intoxicated.

They reached Callie's apartment building and the two took the elevator to her floor. Callie opened the door and was about to flip on a light when she caught sight of a shadow standing by the window, illuminated by the lights from outside. Mark caught sight of the shadow at the same time and recognized the figure instantly. The tall horns were a dead giveaway. For a moment he considered backing discretely out of the apartment but he stayed despite his instinct to flee.

Callie's father had made his dislike of Mark quite obvious not just the previous night but on several occasions. It was natural for Mark to feel a little tense at the sight of the demon but as long as Callie was there Mark figured there was a high likelihood that he wouldn't be murdered.

Callie finally flipped on the light and entered the room "Daddy," she greeted warmly "What a pleasant surprise," the smile she flashed him was tight. She hadn't been expecting him to show up and had really been looking forward to a quiet evening with Mark.

There was something instantly off in the way Aldermach responded to his daughter. Even Mark could see it in the ridged body language of the full demon as he simply nodded at Callie.

"We need to talk," Aldermach told Callie. He caught sight of Mark and Mark became far tenser than he had been before. Something in the demon's eyes resembled the look of a hungry predator that has spotted his next meal.

Mark ignored his instincts however and followed Callie further into the apartment. He had the distinct feeling that now would be a bad time to leave. He awkwardly made as if to sit on the sofa beside Callie but as soon as he realized that Aldermach was making no move to sit he decided he too would be better off standing. This left Aldermach standing by the window, Callie sitting on the sofa and Mark standing between them as if he were shielding Callie, though Mark knew that when it came down to it, it would be Callie who would be protecting him.

"Something wrong Daddy?" Callie asked and though she was trying to sound casual there was just the slightest note of unease in her voice. Perhaps in another setting, with other people who didn't know her so well this note of unease would have gone unnoticed but in the presence of her father and her lover it was all too clear. While Mark was immediately concerned about what he detected behind Callie's words, Aldermach showed no outward signs of having noticed. In fact the demon seemed as if he was entirely detached from the situation. Mark found it incredibly uneasy, not that being around the highest ranking demon in Hell had ever been something Mark had been comfortable with but now, it seemed so much worse.

"I suppose," Aldermach cleared his throat "That I should congratulate you two," he allowed the statement to hang there between them as he waited for a reaction.

Mark simply stared in confusion. Callie however was on her feet and placing herself between Mark and her father. Mark gasped as Callie put a hand to his chest and pushed him backwards. She turned to her father "You already know?" she asked, confused and breathless and just the tiniest bit afraid.

He nodded "That's why I'm here."

"Wait a minute," Mark had recovered from the hard shove Callie had dealt him "What's why you're here, congratulations for what?" He looked pleadingly at Callie for an answer.

It was Aldermach who provided it "She's pregnant Mark."

With those three words Mark Lilly knew that he was doomed.

**A/N: So I had another chapter in me after all. The first chapter was the "funny" one and there aren't going to be too many jokes or laughs in the next few but there will be comic relief eventually in the form of Randal, Leonard, Twayne, Doug and maybe even Croatian Man (aka Goran but I probably won't refer to him that way because I was really enjoying the gag where they all just referred to him as Croatian Man) if I can fit him in somewhere. I would definitely appreciate a review, whether you like it or hate it I'd like to know your opinion.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Only Option

**Love or Life**

**Chapter 3: The Only Option**

**A/N: Thanks so much to Gravespawn for the first review I've gotten since I began writing this. I appreciated the review very much. It's nice to get some feedback about my characterizations. I try my best to keep the characters in character but over the course of the story they will hopefully develop into more in a natural way. For instance you may see some of what some people might deem OOC behavior from Callie in this chapter though I think that given the circumstances her reactions seem to ring true, plus I've never truly believed she's as evil as she lets on. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and to Gravespawn and any others who may be reading, I really do appreciate reviews and will try to get back to you if I can.**

It took a while for the words to sink in. Once they did Mark found himself needing to sit on the sofa again. He looked up at Callie who was somehow managing to keep a concerned eye trained on him while the other watched her father carefully. He leaned forward in his seat and struggled to find words "You… you're… pregnant? How…? When…? I thought you were…"

Callie couldn't answer his questions now, not until she was sure that he wasn't about to be gutted like a fish before her eyes. She did her best to maintain a calm exterior but that ship had most definitely sailed. She could feel her hands trembling and her stomach was in knots. She knew that it wasn't due to her pregnancy that she suddenly felt like she was about to be sick all over the carpet.

"You hadn't told him," Aldermach stated rather than asked.

"I was waiting for the right time," Callie replied in as icy a tone as she could manage, though her voice wavered far too much for her liking.

From behind her Mark reached up and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. In that moment Callie thanked all deities of Heaven and Hell for him. Everything that was conveyed in that simple gesture was all she could ever hope. The love and support that she felt from his hand enveloping hers steadied her frantic heartbeat and she was able to find inner strength from her connection to Mark.

"How did you find out?" Callie questioned her father in an accusatory tone.

"I have eyes and ears everywhere dear," Aldermach replied somewhat boredly as if he were restating a well known fact. Truthfully this fact was well known to all but Callie. Aldermach had gone to great pains to hide things from his daughter with the intention of protecting her, though in truth he was really only trying to protect himself.

"So," Callie put her free hand on her hip "Congratulate us or get out."

Aldermach let out a heavy sigh "That's not why I'm here," he stated.

Mark, having recovered enough to find his balance again, rose to his feet and moved in close beside Callie. He didn't know why but he felt that he needed to be literally at her side at this moment. Though he was fairly certain that he was the one about to be in mortal danger he couldn't shake the feeling that Callie wasn't as safe as he'd thought her to be a few minutes ago.

"Well, why are you here?" Callie demanded.

"To warn you," Aldermach

"Warn us about what?" Mark asked.

Aldermach groaned "Not you Mark. Let me make this absolutely clear for you. I could care less what happens to you. If you hadn't been here tonight I'd probably have stopped by your place to kill you after this."

To his credit Mark only cringed a tiny bit at those words "So what did you come to warn Callie about?" Mark rephrased his question.

Aldermach ignored Mark completely, focusing all his attention on his daughter "You've gone too far this time," he told her "I'm not going to be able to protect you anymore."

"Protect me?" Callie was incredulous. Where was he when she'd been kidnapped by Sabrina's gang? Her face had been all over the news, clearly he knew that she was in trouble and it had been Mark who saved her. How had her father really ever protected her?

"Tomorrow at noon I'm going to announce to the demon council that you're pregnant with the child of a full human," Aldermach continued "Then there will be calls for your execution. I'm not going to be able to keep them from coming after you." There was nothing remotely regretful in his tone; he seemed detached, cold and calculating in his delivery of the news that Callie was now as good as dead.

Now Mark stepped forward, the need for self preservation overwritten by the outrage that coursed through his body at Aldermach's words "You're saying that you're going to basically sign her death warrant?" there were very few things that pissed Mark Lilly off but when someone he truly cared about was threatened, an inner beast was unleashed.

"If I were you I'd shut your mouth," Aldermach warned "I'm going to be calling for your death as well."

Mark lunged forward only to be yanked back by his shirt collar. He turned to see Callie, her face pale and drawn as she attempted to comprehend what her father was saying. Her eyes pleaded with Mark to not do what he was thinking of doing. Mark returned to Callie's side but continued to stare daggers at Aldermach. Callie's fingers remained gripping his collar as if it anchored her to reality. Mark responded by dropping an arm around her waist and pulling her flush against his side.

"Don't worry," a slight smirk crept onto Aldermach's face "I won't kill you in front of Callie."

"And you think by coming here and warning me that this is about to happen," Callie would be shaking furiously now if not for Mark's arm around her. Her world was crumbling around her and suddenly Mark was all that made sense "That you're doing me some sort of favor?"

"You have until noon tomorrow," Aldermach told her "Plenty of time to say your goodbyes and put your affairs in order." He remained detached in his manner and Callie was desperately trying to pick out something in his tone that was reminiscent of the demon who had given her piggyback rides when she was a little girl. There was nothing.

It was at that moment that Callie was eternally grateful that as a half demon her ability to cry was greatly diminished. Inside she felt like sobbing. On the outside she was battling to keep the few tears that were trying to make their presence know at bay.

Aldermach made his way to Callie's balcony to leave. Mark broke away from Callie's grasp and followed the demon "Isn't there anything you can do?" he demanded "If Callie gets rid of the baby, if you kill me, can't you convince the other demons to leave her alone?"

Aldermach turned and gave the human an appraising look "You really care about her, don't you?" he asked, quietly, only then the tone customary of a stricken father becoming noticeable.

"I love her," Mark told the demon "If I gave you my soul-" he was cut off by Aldermach putting a hand over his mouth.

"That wouldn't help," the demon shook his head "Get her out of the city," he advised "Leave and don't look back. That's all you can do."

A moment later Aldermach had disappeared into the night. Mark withdrew into the apartment and spotted Callie, collapsed on the couch, her face wet with the few tears she had finally allowed to fall when neither her father nor Mark were looking. Mark sat beside her and gathered her into his arms "We need to leave," he told her simply.

XXX

When it came to matters of survival, Mark Lilly's true potential came out. Mark possessed true cleverness that he only seemed to be able to access when he felt threatened. This cleverness was operating in overtime now. While Callie seemed to shut down and withdraw, Mark jumped into action. He packed a small bag for Callie as well as grabbing the duffel that he left at her place for those nights when he stayed over. He took both their cell phones and set them side by side on the dresser; wherever they were headed they'd have to be off the grid.

Within forty five minutes of Aldermach's departure Mark was ushering Callie down to the car. He would have completely forgotten about the takeout food except that at the last minute he remembered that Callie should probably eat something considering her condition. So he grabbed the bag of food as well before leaving the apartment.

In the car, Mark drove, sticking to the streets that he believed they'd be least observed as he made his way out of Manhattan. Callie meanwhile was virtually catatonic. When they were stopped at an incredibly long red light on one of the less conspicuous streets and Mark attempted to encourage her to eat, he was surprised and worried when she didn't respond in any way shape or form.

It was almost two hours before they were clear of the city entirely. Skyscrapers eventually gave way to houses and tree lined streets. Mark dared to stop only when they reached a secluded wooded area. He turned to Callie "We're going to need to change cars soon," he told her, the clever part of his brain which was now more intent on keeping Callie alive than anything else, was still working hard.

Callie was facing away from him, staring blankly out the window. Mark tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder in an effort to provoke some kind of reaction from her. At this point her silence was worrying him to the point where he would be glad if she turned and screamed at him for some inconsequential thing or another.

Instead Callie slowly turned to him before adjusting herself so that she was sitting in his lap. She still hadn't made a noise as she rested her head on his shoulder. It was a few minutes before she spoke. When she did, her words surprised Mark.

"Do you… want this baby Mark…?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I do," Mark told her. When he spoke Callie could detect no subterfuge in his voice. There was nothing but love and support there and she clung tighter to him. "What makes you think I wouldn't?" he asked.

"I heard you and Daddy talking, you know," she tried to sound sardonic, ascorbic, tough in some small way but she only sounded broken. Then again, she realized, she didn't have to pretend with Mark. She was broken, and she wasn't ashamed that he knew that.

Mark began to stroke her hair "I would have said anything to keep you alive," he told her. He sounded broken too as he spoke "Remember I once told you I'd do anything for you. I wasn't kidding you know," he tried to force a chuckle.

Callie wanted to tell him so many things then but there was no time. They had been given a deadline and they had to be as far away from New York City by noon. She reluctantly slid off his lap and took her seat, buckling the belt across her body "We should keep moving," she told him softly.

Mark handed her the container that held her food "Eat this," he said pleadingly "You're going to need to keep your strength up."

Callie took the container and nibbled at the contents as Mark drove on through the night.

XXX

The next morning around seven, a resident of a small town in upstate New York awoke to find a red convertible parked in his driveway. Half an hour later the clerk of a Wal-mart a few miles away saw a brown haired man guiding a red haired young woman through the checkout line.

When they had finished paying for their meager purchases the man reached into the bag and pulled out a gray hooded sweatshirt which he handed to the woman before withdrawing a sweatshirt for himself. Five minutes after that, the driver of a bus headed upstate witnessed a man and a woman, their heads covered by gray sweatshirt material, boarding his bus.

The bus driver found this noteable because it was a rather warm mid spring day and the two passengers were the only ones on the bus wearing any type of jackets. The bus driver also took note of how close they sat to one another, keeping their heads bent low as if they were afraid of being recognized. The driver of the bus breathed a sigh when he saw them depart.

At ten fifteen in the morning Anne Lilly was just doing some tidying up in her living room when her doorbell rang. She went to the door, expecting that it would be one of her neighbors, stopping by to exchange some bit of local gossip with her over a cup of tea which Anne would be obligated to provide.

When she opened the door she beheld two figures in gray hoodies that seemed to project an aura of tension and desperation. She stared in amazement as one of the figures removed his hood and managed a feeble smile at her.

"Hi Mom," her son greeted before indicating the figure beside him "This is my girlfriend Callie; can we crash here for a while?"

XXX

Callie lay face up on one side of Mark's old bed. Across the basement room Mark was sitting at his old desk, accessing the internet and wracking his brain to think if there was anyone he could trust at this point. He sent an email to Leonard's personal email address, though he didn't he had to keep the message vague and he didn't expect Leonard would receive or be able to comprehend the message until much later that day. The old wizard probably wasn't even awake yet and if he was he was probably intensely hung over.

Mark briefly thought of emailing Randal but he put that thought out of his mind quickly. When it came to reliability, Randal was only on Mark's side half the time. Though Randal could be a useful ally when they notion struck him, Mark just couldn't trust him this time. Mark really doubted there were many people he could turn to for help in this instance so he turned off the computer and crossed the room to take a seat on the bed next to Callie.

Her face had been half buried in a pillow but when he approached she released the pillow and let it fall away. She reached out and pulled him down so that he was lying beside her. She then buried her face in his chest, holding onto him tightly.

Mark returned her embrace as he looked over her shoulder at the clock on the bedside table. It was ten minutes past twelve. Aldermach would have made his announcement to the demonic council and it wouldn't be long before the media got wind of the story. He wondered how long it would take for the various demons to find Callie's car.

Coming to his mother's house was possibly far too predictable a move but Mark hoped that he and Callie could at least lay low there for a day or two before they had to move on. He needed some time to think and plan their next move.

They had no means of transportation, they were wanted by every demon in Hell and the list of people they could turn to seemed almost nonexistent. But Mark knew he had to make it work, somehow, he had to keep Callie alive. No matter what it took.

XXX

Leonard attempted to lift his hand to his eyes to rub them. He had one mother of a headache and he had very little recollection of what had happened the previous night. He did however remember what had caused him to go on one of the bigger benders of his career as an alcoholic. Even the memory of it now made him cringe. And he didn't quite fully understand why the events of the previous afternoon had upset him so much but it was obvious they had.

It had begun with an innocent craving for Chinese food. Of course as long as he was going for Chinese food he might as well check up on Lionel, his would be apprentice. He arrived at the restaurant only to discover that the Chang's, who had taken Lionel in and cared for the strange wizard egg baby who aged slower than they did, were throwing Lionel a fifty first birthday party. Among the guests were some of the apprentices that Lionel had met when Leonard took him to Mount Magic. Leonard slunk away without being noticed. He didn't feel like he should demand an explanation as to why he wasn't invited. He was never good with children, of any species and he suspected strongly that his relationship with Lionel, his son for all intents and purposes, was irrevocably damaged from the second he'd left that egg alone on that solitary doorstep.

Leonard had given up all hope of retiring. His latest eggnancy had ended with the egg being a dud. To his credit Leonard had not abandoned this one… well not entirely. He had left the egg in the care of his more than capable hologram, Melchoir. The hologram seemed to be more than happy to take on the responsibility, proving once again that Melchoir and Leonard were very different.

The older Leonard got the more alone he felt. Friends he'd had when he was younger who hadn't been wizards were now long since dead. Those who shared a similar lifespan to his own he just naturally seemed not to get along with. There were the other wizards that he saw on occasion but he could not count them among his friends. His relationship with his brother, Christ Angel, had been dysfunctional for centuries and the two hadn't seen each other since that one stage show Leonard had the misfortune of attending with Mark. And Melchoir was far from being someone Leonard could talk to.

He often missed the friends he'd had as a younger man. They were the cause of many of his alcohol induced trips to near oblivion. He'd learned long ago, around the time he turned a hundred, that it was easier to make those around him despise him. It took the sting out of it when they passed away. It was a system that he'd managed to keep up for some time. Of course there had been exceptions, such as Abraham Lincoln, who Leonard had not been expecting to die so suddenly and whose death lay mostly on Leonard's shoulders. After Lincoln had returned as a zombie, Leonard had not been able to continue the friendship out of guilt, even though as a zombie, Lincoln's life expectancy had seemingly outmatched Leonard's own.

Leonard had struck up a friendship of sorts with Randal, Mark's zombie roommate but it wasn't the sort of friendship that Leonard really craved. The closest thing to the type of friend that Leonard needed in his life was Mark. Of course Leonard could not let himself get attached to the young man. Mark was human and therefore he possessed a human lifespan. One that was likely to be far shorter than normal, considering the rumors that Leonard had heard of Mark and Callie's wild sexual antics.

Leonard had tried to distance himself from Mark, tried to get Mark to hate him but the young man seemed to have an infinite capacity for forgiveness. There weren't many like Mark Lilly in the world and Leonard both cursed and thanked Merlin for the young man's presence in his life.

Leonard finally succeeded in moving his hand to his face. He rubbed his eyes until his surroundings became clear to him. He didn't remember anything of where he might have ended up and indeed he wasn't in his apartment. In fact he didn't seem to be anywhere that he was familiar with.

He lifted his head and looked around to see a semi circle of women dressed in the robes of sorceresses, staring at him intently. He quickly looked down at himself, realizing that he was indeed still dressed, so much for that faint hope. He pushed himself into a seated position and cleared his throat.

"So… how 'bout them Yankees?"

**A/N: So, what did I tell you? It's certainly not your typical pregnancy fic. And things are only going to get weirder. I hope that Leonard came across alright. I felt that his alcoholism needed some back story and his edges needed a little softening and his character needed a little internal monologue. It took a few more paragraphs than I had originally thought but I got into a serious grove with all the failed relationships in his life and how he must cope with the shorter lifespans of some of his friends of other species… Anyway, hope it turned out okay. Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4: Parent Against Child

**Love or Life**

**Chapter 4: Parent Against Child**

**A/N: Sorry it took me longer than I would have liked to update this chapter. One of my stories that I abandoned about five years ago was taken down by the admins for inappropriate language in the title and I was band for a few days. In seven years on this site this was my second banning and it made me a little nervous. Anyway I have a lot more people to thank for reviewing this time and the hits have gone up quite a bit too. So maybe I should take longer breaks between chapters more often.**

**Anyway, thanks first and foremost to Gravespawn; I'm so glad you decided to review after all. I really think you get what I'm going for with the bringing in of one time characters to help develop the characters in the present.**

**To PS2wizard; I'm glad I can be your first :D… you know what I mean, the first Ugly Americans fanfic you've ever subscribed to. I hope that I am the first of many as one of my great hopes is that my UA fanfic will get other writers into writing for this fandom.**

**To CMR Rosa; double thanks for reviewing both chapter 1 and chapter 3. I thought I'd seen all the reviews I was going to see when today I get a review from you. I'm glad that you're still interested. I was a bit worried that when you reviewed chapter one but nothing after it that you'd lost interest pretty fast.**

**Okay, so onto the story. I hope that I haven't been gone so long that ya'll have forgotten what's been happening. Brace yourself for, well I wouldn't say twists but let's call them added surprises.**

None of the sorceresses replied to Leonard. The group remained silently observing him. Leonard took advantage of the awkward silence to get his bearings. He stood a bit uneasily, still feeling the effects of his monstrous headache. Slowly he cast his gaze upon the scenery that surrounded him.

He appeared to be on a plateau of soft green grass. To one side of him crushed and bent shrubbery that covered a steep upward slope marked the path that he must have taken the previous night. The upward slope seemed to continue in a large circle while the small plateau that Leonard and the semi circle of sorceresses occupied eventually dropped off into another slope. The place gave the impression of being an enormous crater. There were several other plateaus dotting the crater walls. Some were simply grassy fields like the one Leonard stood upon. Others held forests, ponds or houses. There seemed to be a pattern to the way in which the plateaus were arrayed.

With a shock Leonard realized where he must have ended up in his drunken stupor. It was no wonder why the sorceresses remained so silent as they stood watching him. He had stumbled upon the Valley of the Sorceresses. He had unwittingly stumbled into a place the location of which was purposely kept secret from even wizards, the sorceresses' greatest allies. All those who visited this place were brought there by the sorceresses themselves.

As soon as the revelation hit him, Leonard instantly and outwardly cringed. He immediately took a step away from the watchful semi-circle and tripped over a rock, falling flat on his back. He let out a loud groan but made no move to get up. He was screwed. He didn't know what they would do to him. No one had ever come across the Valley on purpose, not since millennia ago when the ancient sorceresses came upon the large crater and transformed it into the hidden oasis that it was now.

Leonard was only mildly surprised when his view of uninterrupted blue sky was compromised by the face of one of the sorceresses. She appeared to be among the older ones of the group but wore her age with a sort of dignity that was somehow alluring. She stared down at him with deep brown eyes. He wasn't sure but he thought he could see a flicker of concern. Finally she extended a hand to him. Leonard gratefully took the hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

Finally the sorceress who had helped him to his feet spoke "Welcome Leonard. My name is Tess. We've been expecting you."

XXX

Aldermach was not prepared for the onslaught that befell him after his announcement to the demonic council. He was sitting alone in his office a few hours after his meeting with the council had concluded. Without warning his ex-wife, Rosie, burst in. Without a word she stormed up to him and slapped him hard across his face.

"Something wrong dear?" he deadpanned.

Rosie slammed an afternoon addition of the New York Times on his desk "Notice anything?" she asked, bitterly.

On the front page of the paper was a story about Aldermach's noon time announcement. However, that was not what caught Aldermach's attention "An afternoon addition," he threw his head back and laughed "When was the last time a paper printed an afternoon addition? Where did they find the money to do that? What's the point of printing an afternoon addition?"

Rosie made a rather disapproving noise "That's not what I meant," she almost growled.

"No, of course not," Aldermach gave an exhausted sigh. He knew why his ex-wife had barged in on him and frankly he couldn't blame her. But he had to keep up appearances and he had a job to do. The fact that his job had required him to do something that even he, deep down, viewed as despicable was part of his life. And he couldn't allow any cracks to show in his bored and callus exterior, not even in front of Rosie.

"How could you do this?" Rosie demanded. She appeared near tears, something which surprised Aldermach. He had believed for that humans like Rosie, required a soul in order to cry. Perhaps, he reasoned, those rules didn't apply when it came to the subject of children. There was a part of him, a part of him that he was trying very hard to bury under layers and layers of indifference, which wanted to cry too.

"Well," Aldermach looked up at the sound of Rosie's voice to see her glaring impatiently at him. He realized that he hadn't answered her yet.

He composed himself as best he could, which took more effort than he thought it would, and replied with the most detached answer he could think of "It's just business dear." He didn't think that answer would pacify her, if anything he expected it would inflame her temper. Rosie did not disappoint him.

"Business!" she shouted. With her hands on her hips and her eyes fixed on him as tears fell and she attempted to maintain the vicious glare that she'd pinned him with earlier, Aldermach nearly took pity on her. He nearly let a crack show in his indifferent armor. But he couldn't so he didn't.

Being in charge in Hell was a massive responsibility and you couldn't let anything, not family and most certainly not emotions, rare though they may be for demons, to get in the way. He shoved feelings of pity and sorrow deeper and deeper, digging up his most bitter memories to remain indifferent "Yes, business," he replied "You obviously read this," he held up the newspaper and failed to suppress a grin "Afternoon edition. You know what the story is."

"She's your daughter," Rosie looked as though she was having trouble remaining upright.

Again, Aldermach buried feelings as he jerked an arm back that he hadn't even remembered extending in an effort to steady his ex-wife. He took a deep breath as the feelings became harder and harder to bury. He felt something shift uncomfortably inside him and realized that the demon snake, Slitherax, was most likely being made very uncomfortable by all the emotions raging in his host's body.

"The job comes first," he still managed to sound indifferent.

"And what if this baby is just an ordinary nothing special baby?" Rosie asked "What if you've sentenced our daughter to death for nothing?"

Aldermach sighed and stood up. He placed a hand on Rosie's shoulder and guided her, none to gently, towards the door of his office. If she remained their much longer heaping guilt that he had once so fervently sworn that he was incapable of upon him, then he knew he would crack for sure. He would call of the hunt for Callie and maybe even for Mark and then there would be calls for his execution.

"Go home Rosie," he told her firmly "Go home and forget about all of this." Before she could reply, he slammed the door in her face and locked it.

He returned to his desk and sighed with a pain that came from the deepest recesses of his being. And he hated that pain, hated that he had feelings, hated that he knew what he had done was wrong. He was a demon and shouldn't even know the difference between right and wrong or at least if he did know, than he should be immune to guilt when it came to doing the wrong thing. Doing the wrong thing should give him a sense of accomplishment, a sense of pride. Doing the wrong thing was not supposed to make him feel physically ill.

XXX

Callie had fallen asleep. Mark knew that he needed his rest as well, having driven the entire night before. But he just couldn't seem to allow his eyes to drift shut for even a moment. Every time he heard a car pass by on the quiet street outside or heard a plane fly overhead or even his mother's footsteps on the floor above his head, he was immediately on alert.

He spent a good deal of time while Callie slept, pacing his room, trying to figure out a next move. Now was the best time to keep moving. It was still very early in Callie's pregnancy which meant that traveling would not put the strain on her that it would in a few months time. But there was so much to take into account. So many things he needed to plan for.

Callie had explained to him about the medication which would suppress her powers, which of course had precipitated a discussion about her time as Sabrina's captive which had led to a confession of Callie's desire for "rescue sex". However the point remained that if indeed they were found by demons or whoever else might be after them now that likely all of New York City and perhaps even the country knew that the pair had been marked for death, their options for defending themselves were severely limited.

Mark had had very few physical triumphs in his life. In grade school, middle school and high school he had been the short kid, the weakling, always picked last for everything. In college he had been the odd ball that very few people dared to bother dealing with if they could help it. Those who did bother to deal with him, like Jackie, he had managed to isolate himself from anyway.

Since moving to the city he had managed exactly one and a half triumphs of strength. The half triumph was his evenly matched battle with his blonde clone at the Ferris wheel and of course only counted as a half triumph because it had ended with both him and the clone being shot. It was hard for Mark to believe, when they dragged the clone in to be executed, that it had been the same clone who had knocked him out in one blow upon their first encounter.

Though the actual knocking out had been done by a glove, considering how brutally the clone had treated Mark when he had been tied up in a bag, it was hard to believe. Mark often wondered what had happened to that powerful glove. If his clone had been in possession of it at the Ferris wheel than there would have been no contest between the two of them. Mark assumed that his clone had simply dropped the mysterious object somewhere. Mark himself had lost more than a few gloves, socks and even the occasional shoe in his day so it wasn't an unlikely theory.

His first full victory had been just before it had been revealed to him that he had been the victim of an elaborate prank on April Fool's Day. A fit of jealous rage was all well and good but it wouldn't serve him very well against a horde of demons. And "Barney" hadn't fought him when he had broken free of his bonds. It was probably in order to give Mark the upper hand so that the true genius of the prank could be revealed and that photo which would haunt Mark for many weeks to come captured.

In the end Mark knew he wasn't much of a fighter and would more than likely die as soon as the demons caught up with him and Callie. In short his days were numbered. But he wasn't the most important thing anymore, Callie was. As long as he could figure out some way that she could be safe, he would be able to die happy in that knowledge. But he had no plan of action and his window of opportunity was ever closing right on top of him.

The door at the top of the basement stairs opened and his mother appeared "Mark," she called in a commanding tone "I need to see you upstairs, now."

Mark glanced at Callie who appeared to still be sound asleep. He couldn't help feeling uneasy even with the short amount of distance that he would be required to increase their separation by if he went upstairs but he could easily see what his mother wanted and be back in short order.

When he ascended the stairs he found his mother in the living room, standing in front of the television. Close ups of his and Callie's faces dominated the screen as the anchor woman talked about the circumstances which had lead to them being Hell's most wanted. Mark noticed that his mother looked less than pleased.

"When you were going to tell me about your girlfriend being pregnant and all of Hell and the greater part of New York City hunting you down like animals?" she asked. Her tone only confirmed what Mark already suspected; she was pissed.

"Soon," Mark replied feebly.

"Soon," his mother repeated, positively fuming at the lame response "Do yourself a favor Mark and turn her in. Maybe you can at least save your own ass."

Mark gaped at what his mother had just suggested "You… you're kidding right?" he asked. If she was kidding, he certainly wasn't laughing.

"No honey," she replied "That girl is bad news and you'd better distance yourself from her while you still can. Listen, they've set up a hotline for people to call in if they've seen you two. I've already called them and-"

"What?" Mark was shocked and infuriated "You called them?"

"Don't you interrupt me young man!" his mother shouted, reaching out with a hand to smack her son across the face with the belief that if would bring him into line. It had worked so well on those rare occasions when as a boy he had defied her by doing something stupid. But it did not work now.

Mark took the slap full in the face but showed no signs of submitting to the control that his mother was attempting to submit over him. "How could you do that to us?" he asked.

"I did it for you sweetheart," his mother's voice took on a placating tone "Once that… thing is out of the way-"

"She's not a thing!" Mark moved to the side to avoid another slap from his mother at his outburst "Her name is Callie and I love her and we're going to have a family together. It would have been nice if you supported us!"

"I can't do that Mark!" his mother shouted "You've made the wrong choice and it's time for me to step in and clean up your mess!"

Mark didn't bother saying another word to his mother. He turned and dashed down the basement steps. Callie was sitting up on the bed. From the expression on her face Mark could tell that she had heard at least part of the conversation he had just had with his mother. He grabbed their bags, which he was now grateful he hadn't bothered to unpack and took Callie by the hand.

"Wait a second," Callie said, pulling away from him to grab an old baseball bat that lay in a pile of Mark's childhood possessions. She used the bat to smash Mark's computer "Can't make it too easy for them," she said as she stuck the bat through the handles of the two duffel bags and followed Mark upstairs.

Mark didn't spare his mother a passing glance as he walked beside Callie to the back door of the house. But Callie did. The half human turned to Mrs. Lily and looked her straight in the eyes "I promise you that I love your son and I'll do everything I can to protect him," she said.

Her clearly heartfelt words had no affect on Anne Lilly's hard heart. The older woman glared at Callie "Save your words for when you're begging for your life girl," she spat "I know all about your kind and if it wasn't for them, Mark's father would be… still stuck in traffic…"

Mark hadn't been paying attention as he fiddled with the locking mechanism on the stubborn back door but Callie's jaw dropped. She quickly shut her mouth and filed the information that Mark's mother had let slip under "things to think about later".

Mark finally got the door open and gestured for Callie to follow him. Anne Lilly watched as her son and the troublemaker cut across the backyard. She watched as Mark helped that thing over the fence and followed her. She wished Mark had told her that the girl he had been dating was half demon. She would have put a stop to it from the get-go. Mark did not know about her prejudice against demons or why she held that prejudice so strongly. She had been very careful never to tell her children the truth of what had really happened to their father. They had both been so young when it happened. She didn't want them to lose their innocence.

But as she reflected on her choices now, she realized that Mark perhaps retained too much innocence. Obviously his girlfriend's species hadn't seemed something worth mentioning in his mind. She only hoped that her son would see the truth and abandon that lying monstrosity before he ended up like his father.

XXX

A man with long blond hair stood on a hilltop. Before him was a rather impressive image of Manhattan's skyline. A gust of wind caused long blond strands to flow back and the sunglasses perched atop his head nearly toppled off. He reached up a hand and set the glasses back in place before running the gloved hand over his face.

Months had passed since he had been in this country. Months had passed since he had seen this city. He had taken refuge far away and sworn he wouldn't return until the time was right to exact his revenge. Time had passed but he had never forgotten. How could he when every time he looked in the mirror he saw the face of another man, a man who lived a far different life but was possessed of the same DNA. A man who had been fortunate enough to grow as a normal human would instead of having been grown from borrowed genetic material.

And he had a score to settle with the one from whom he was cloned and the one who had grown him. And now, as the city of New York was on the brink of chaos was the perfect time to collect. Yes, he had tried to get revenge once before but things had gone wrong and holes had quickly appeared in his plan. The chaos that was currently spreading throughout Hell and Earth would be enough to fill any holes that might appear.

The man on the hilltop turned when he heard someone approaching. It was Yamoto, one of the Japanese demons who he had befriended during his months in hiding. He gave Yamoto a quick bow "Good to see you friend," he greeted.

Yamoto gave the man a nod of his head "The conditions are right for our takeover of Hell," he informed the man.

"Good luck," the man replied.

"And to you friend," Yamoto replied "I hope you find what you need."

"Oh," the man grinned broadly "I will."


End file.
